Beware the Green Goo
by SkyFire2
Summary: Young Estel is sick. The Twins decide to cheer him up, with a few... unforseeable consequences.


Beware the Green Goo  
by SkyFire  
  
Rated: G  
Summary: Young Estel is sick. The Twins decide to cheer him up, with a few... unforseeable   
consequences.  
  
A/N: I don't know where the plotbunnies got this thing. I wrote it before the start of my   
convalescence, so *that* wasn't inspiration... *shrugs* It's short-ish, rather pointless... Hope   
you like it.  
  
Thoughts are in // //. Emphasis (italics) is in * *.  
  
.  
*****  
Beware the Green Goo  
by SkyFire  
  
Elrohir grimaced. "Are you *sure* this will help make Estel feel better?" he asked plaintively.  
  
"Of course! Do you have any idea how funny you look right now?"  
  
Elrohir sighed. "Just as long as you remember it's your turn next," he said. He looked back over   
his shoulder at his twin, his silky dark hair pulled to the front, falling over his other   
shoulder. He saw his brother repeatedly dipping his little finger into a small bowl, then   
randomly poking at his back. "Aren't there enough of them yet? He's not going to see them there,   
anyway."  
  
Elladan cocked his head to the side, walked around his twin, staring at him with a considering   
eye. At last he nodded. "Yes," he agreed. "I'm done."  
  
Elrohir grinned, took the small bowl from his brother as Elladan peeled off his shirt. Once his   
brother was ready, he swirled his own little finger in the bowl, then poked at his twin. He   
chuckled as he worked. "You're right, brother," he said. "How could Estel *not* cheer up when   
faced with *this*?"  
  
***  
  
The mortal in question was lying in his bed in his room, being fussed over by his Ada and   
Glorfindel. Though he usually liked their company (when he was not in trouble) right then what he   
wished most in the world was for them to find something pressing that they needed to do.  
  
Somewhere else.  
  
Preferably on the other side of the House.  
  
Estel sighed in irritation. He was *itchy* all over and they would *not* let him scratch. He was   
also covered in patches of differently-colored slowly-drying goo as Elrond tried to figure out a   
combination of medicines that would cure him. Where he wasn't covered in his Ada's experiments,   
he was covered with small red spots.  
  
Chicken pox.  
  
He had spotted the first one two days past. At first, he thought that perhaps one of the big   
flies that sometimes buzzed around some of the wetter sections of Rivendell had bitten him. Those   
left similar red marks behind.  
  
But when he had not been to those areas all that day and still found nearly two dozen of the   
things when he was changing for bed, he had run to his Ada to show him.  
  
Elrond's expression of surprise when the young boy barged into his study and started stripping   
off his nightshirt with barely time for a brief "look, Ada!" had been rather comical. Glorfindel,   
seated beside his lord, was equally shocked, but then caught sight of Elrond's expression and   
started laughing, quickly choking it back at Elrond's quick glare.  
  
Then both Elf-lords had seen Estel's spots. That was the start of his confinement to his bed.  
  
Estel sighed again. Since then, he had been allowed out of bed only to visit the bathroom.  
  
If there was anything worse for an active young boy than being forced to stay abed, he couldn't   
think of it. And if there was anything worse for an adult than to be stuck in the same room as an   
active young boy confined to his bed, Elrond and Glorfindel couldn't think of it.  
  
There was a knock at the door.  
  
"Estel?" Elrohir called through the door. "Ada? Can we come in?"  
  
Elrond sighed in relief. Perhaps his sons could distract Estel from his predicament. "Enter," he   
called.  
  
The door opened and in came a heavily-cloaked Elladan and Elrohir.  
  
"Elladan? Elrohir?" Elrond asked in concern. Why were his sons wearing their cloaks indoors?  
  
Then Elrond, Glorfindel, and Estel stared in wide-eyed shock at the Twins as they cast off their   
cloaks to show what they had been hiding.  
  
Both wore their usual shirts, pants and low boots. Both wore their hair as they usually did. What   
was *not* usual were the large green spots that covered their skin. They both raised an eyebrow   
in query.  
  
"What?" said Elladan.  
  
Estel was the first one to break free of his shock. His eyes sparkled and laughter spilled from   
him in roaring waves.  
  
Glorfindel joined Estel in laughter, his silken chuckles ringing musically in the air. Soon, even   
Elrond was chuckling at his sons' appearance.  
  
"What are you two doing?" he asked after he caught his breath.  
  
Elrohir looked at him, eyes wide with forced innocence. "Doing, Ada?" he said.  
  
"We aren't doing anything," Elladan agreed. "The spots just... appeared."  
  
Elrond gave the two a suspicious look, but then shrugged it off. If they wanted to go around   
looking like *that* there was not much he could do to stop them. And besides, Estel wasn't   
complaining for the first time all that day.  
  
Elrohir walked over and sat on the floor beside the bed, at his father's feet. "Can we have   
special treatment too, Ada?" he asked.  
  
Elladan nodded. "Yes," he agreed. "We can't have Estel having *all* the fun!"  
  
Estel scrunched up his face at them. "Fun? What fun? I'm stuck in bed, itchy, and covered in   
messy plants!"  
  
Elrohir grinned at his adopted brother. "Yes," he said, "but you are also getting treats to eat,   
and lots of attention...."  
  
"So you two are feeling left out?" Elrond said with a small grin, the grin spreading at their   
quick nods. Then his grin froze as he smelled something familiar, something...  
  
...Oh.  
  
Reaching out one long hand, he took up Elrohir's hand in his own. He brought it to his nose and   
sniffed at one of the green spots before releasing the hand. Barely managing to force back   
laughter, he looked at the twins, his eyes sparkling. "Elladan, you mixed up the green concoction,   
didn't you?"  
  
As his brother nodded, Elrohir frowned. Why would his father say that?  
  
Then it hit him.  
  
//He knew it was Elladan because I know more about plants and herbs than he does, and there is   
some reason that I would *not* use the ones he did.//  
  
Suspicious now, Elrohir raised his hand to his nose and sniffed delicately. His eyes widened as   
he recognized the scent.  
  
//No.//  
  
Standing up so fast he nearly tripped over his own feet, Elrohir raced to Estel's dresser and the   
basin of washwater that stood there. He took up a nearby cloth, plunged one hand into the water,   
then scrubbed.  
  
//Valar, no.//  
  
The Valar were not listening. Or, if they were, they showed themselves to have a rather warped   
sense of humor.  
  
The green spots on his hand and forearm, that Elrohir was rubbing at so diligently, did not wash   
away. Or rather, the green went away, only to be replaced by a bright, vibrant purple.  
  
//I know that Elladan is not as good with plants as I am, but how could he possibly use *those*   
plants by mistake??//  
  
The skin of his hand and arm rubbed raw from his efforts to get rid of the green and purple spots   
on them, Elrohir went back to his father, sank down at his feet and rested his head against   
Elrond's knee. He felt his father's hand fall softly to his head, fingers carding gently through   
his hair.  
  
"Ada, I feel sick," he said faintly. It was true; he really wasn't feeling very well at the   
moment.  
  
Elladan just looked at Elrohir's arm, a confused expression on his face; one mirrored by both   
Estel and Glorfindel.  
  
Seeing the curious glances, Elrond explained. "The plant they used is a dye, and will have to   
wear off on its own. That will take at *least* two weeks, and nothing can speed it. Even Estel   
will be spotless before they will, and *their* spots will be bright purple."  
  
All of a sudden, Elladan wasn't feeling quite so well either, and sat down beside his brother,   
weakly leaning up against his father.  
  
Estel's light laughter filled the room, mingling with that of the Elf-Lords.  
  
The green-and-purple-spotted twins just groaned.  
  
END  
  
--  
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